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Fetron
The Fetron was a range of solid-state, plug-compatible replacements for vacuum tubes (valves). Fetrons were manufactured by Teledyne Semiconductor from 1967; primarily as a low-maintenance and low-power swap-in to replace vacuum tubes, which were becoming increasingly obsolete and difficult to source with the widespread use of solid-state electronics. They were used in large numbers in telephone exchanges. Vacuum tubes use significant amounts of power to maintain operating temperature, and large installations had substantial air-conditioning requirements; replacing them with fetrons was expected to reduce cooling and maintenance costs. A typical fetron consisted of a cascode configured pair of JFETs, some simple RC networks to control the device characteristics, and a fuse. The device was mounted in a metal tube with a base that has the same pin-out as the vacuum tube that it replaced. Use Fetrons were used to upgrade oscilloscopes and similar test equipment. They were used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vacuum Tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. The type known as a thermionic tube or thermionic valve utilizes thermionic emission of electrons from a hot cathode for fundamental electronic functions such as signal amplifier, amplification and current rectifier, rectification. Non-thermionic types such as a vacuum phototube, however, achieve electron emission through the photoelectric effect, and are used for such purposes as the detection of light intensities. In both types, the electrons are accelerated from the cathode to the anode by the electric field in the tube. The simplest vacuum tube, the diode (i.e. Fleming valve), invented in 1904 by John Ambrose Fleming, contains only a heated electron-emitting cathode and an anode. Electrons can only flow in one direction through the device—fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
JFET
The junction-gate field-effect transistor (JFET) is one of the simplest types of field-effect transistor. JFETs are three-terminal semiconductor devices that can be used as electronically controlled switches or resistors, or to build amplifiers. Unlike bipolar junction transistors, JFETs are exclusively voltage-controlled in that they do not need a biasing current. Electric charge flows through a semiconducting channel between ''source'' and ''drain'' terminals. By applying a reverse bias voltage to a ''gate'' terminal, the channel is ''pinched'', so that the electric current is impeded or switched off completely. A JFET is usually conducting when there is zero voltage between its gate and source terminals. If a potential difference of the proper polarity is applied between its gate and source terminals, the JFET will be more resistive to current flow, which means less current would flow in the channel between the source and drain terminals. JFETs are sometimes referred to as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesa Boogie Mark Series
The Mesa Boogie Mark Series is a series of guitar amplifier made by Mesa Engineering (more commonly known as "Mesa/Boogie"). Originally just referred to as "Boogies," the product line took on the moniker "Mark Series" as newer revisions were put into production. The Mark Series amplifier was Mesa's flagship product until the introduction of the Rectifier series, and the amplifiers are collectable. Mark I Randall Smith began Mesa/Boogie with a practical joke: he borrowed a Fender Princeton (a small 12-watt amplifier) from his friend, Barry Melton of Country Joe and the Fish, and "hotrodded" it by replacing the amplifier section with a powerful Fender Bassman amp and installing a 12-inch speaker instead of the original 10-inch. The resulting amplifier proved to be loud and successful, and Smith made more than 200 of these Princeton "Boogies"—a name allegedly provided by Carlos Santana, who is to have exclaimed "Man, that little thing really boogies!" A second important improveme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solid-state Electronics
Solid-state electronics means semiconductor electronics: electronic equipment using semiconductor devices such as transistors, diodes and integrated circuits (ICs). The term is also used as an adjective for devices in which semiconductor electronics that have no moving parts replace devices with moving parts, such as the solid-state relay in which transistor switches are used in place of a moving-arm electromechanical relay, or the solid-state drive (SSD) a type of semiconductor memory used in computers to replace hard disk drives, which store data on a rotating disk. History The term "solid-state" became popular at the beginning of the semiconductor era in the 1960s to distinguish this new technology based on the transistor, in which the electronic action of devices occurred in a solid state, from previous electronic equipment that used vacuum tubes, in which the electronic action occurred in a gaseous state. A semiconductor device works by controlling an electric current ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plug Compatible
Plug compatible refers to " hardware that is designed to perform exactly like another vendor's product." The term PCM was originally applied to manufacturers who made replacements for IBM peripherals. Later this term was used to refer to IBM-compatible computers. PCM and peripherals Before the rise of the PCM peripheral industry, computing systems were either configured with peripherals designed and built by the CPU vendor, or designed to use vendor-selected rebadged devices. The first example of plug compatible IBM subsystems were tape drives and controls offered by Telex beginning 1965. Memorex in 1968 was first to enter the IBM plug-compatible disk followed shortly thereafter by a number of suppliers such as CDC, Itel, and Storage Technology Corporation. This was boosted by the world's largest user of computing equipment in both directions. Ultimately plug-compatible products were offered for most peripherals and system main memory. PCM and computer systems A plug-compatib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cascode
The cascode is a two-stage amplifier that consists of a common-emitter stage feeding into a common-base stage. Compared to a single amplifier stage, this combination may have one or more of the following characteristics: higher input–output isolation, higher input impedance, high output impedance, higher bandwidth. In modern circuits, the cascode is often constructed from two transistors (BJTs or FETs), with one operating as a common emitter or common source and the other as a common base or common gate. The cascode improves input–output isolation (reduces reverse transmission), as there is no direct coupling from the output to input. This eliminates the Miller effect and thus contributes to a much higher bandwidth. History The use of a cascode (sometimes verbified to ''cascoding'') is a common technique for improving analog circuit performance, applicable to both vacuum tubes and transistors. The name "cascode" was coined in an article written by Frederick Vinton Hunt an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RC Circuit
A resistor–capacitor circuit (RC circuit), or RC filter or RC network, is an electric circuit composed of resistors and capacitors. It may be driven by a voltage or current source and these will produce different responses. A first order RC circuit is composed of one resistor and one capacitor and is the simplest type of RC circuit. RC circuits can be used to filter a signal by blocking certain frequencies and passing others. The two most common RC filters are the high-pass filters and low-pass filters; band-pass filters and band-stop filters usually require RLC filters, though crude ones can be made with RC filters. Introduction There are three basic, linear passive lumped analog circuit components: the resistor (R), the capacitor (C), and the inductor (L). These may be combined in the RC circuit, the RL circuit, the LC circuit, and the RLC circuit, with the acronyms indicating which components are used. These circuits, among them, exhibit a large number of important types ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Electric
The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment manufacturer, supplier, and purchasing agent for the Bell System from 1881 to 1984 when it was dismantled. The company was responsible for many technological innovations as well as developments in industrial management. History In 1856, George Shawk, a craftsman and telegraph maker, purchased an electrical engineering business in Cleveland, Ohio. In January, 1869, Shawk had partnered with Enos M. Barton in the former Western Union repair shop of Cleveland, to manufacture burglar, fire alarms, and other electrical items. Both men were former Western Union employees. Shawk, was the Cleveland shop foreman and Barton, was a Rochester, New York telegrapher. During this Shawk and Barton partnership, one customer was an inventor sourcing parts an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
